The Doahs

Shenandoah National Park! mile 849. OK I know i skipped alot of details , Ill just say the last few weeks and few hundred miles went by very quick and i really lost track of time. Im enjoying myself and going to special hangouts only known to hikers. but a word to the wise.....if your family is used to hearing from you every hundred miles or so, and they are addicted to shows like "I shouldn't Be Alive", and "Survival Man" and "Man vs Wild", then make sure you either contact them or let them know you wont be contacting them for a while. theres nothing wose than a worried mother. visions of a hiker falling off a cliff in the middle of no where, both legs broken and slowly dying from exposure and lack of snickers will creep into your loved one's minds if not extinguished with a phone call of "I'm OK". Its good to be loved and better to ease thier minds that all is good in the woods.
The Doah's are great. ive been very close to a few very big black bears. anyone that says black bears aren't intimidating or dangerous hasnt seen them up close like i have. crossed one on the trail. tried waving my poles and growling at him to "GET ON OUTA HEEA!" in true redneck fashion.i thought i was doing pretty good until he stopped, yurned around and looked at me like...."YOU TALKIN TO ME?(enter Robert Deniro voice), yeah, pucker level delta real quick. eventually me smell and beard scared him off. the dear.....oh how i love the site of wild venison still breathing and grazing. yeah my thought was.......boy, if i had a gun with a scope on it.....of course in the Doahs, all oyu need is a potatoe chip and a good grip. they come right up to you. like shoooting fish in a barrel. i did see two, teenage im sure, jump in the road and hang out until a car got close. then, they just stood in the lane of the oncoming car and looked at the friver as if to say....."thats right buddy, Protected Species Here!" ....arrogant little pests. but they were cute and i saw quite a few tiny fawns with thier mother.
The views were incredible . starting to get into real good civil war history regions. trail lesson for the day....stupid rules are made to be broken. Applicable in all life situations.